Glamorous? No. Important? Yes.

The Erb Hall Renovation Project won’t turn our dorms into five-star hotel rooms. Right now we have basic furnishings-beds, desks, dressers and closets. We have heat, air conditioning, electricity and water. When we return to Hesston College in August, we will still have all of those things, we will just have an updated version and without the threat of pipes bursting.

Leah Mueller

So we ask ourselves, “Why should I give money to this project?” The answer is simple: Dorm life is essential to Hesston College. This place must serve as a home for students, as many come from long distances and can’t go home frequently. The new furnishings in the rooms, such as dressers and beds, will provide comfort and options for space-saving arrangements. New furniture in the lounges is important because this is where much of our socialization occurs. In my mod and sister mod, there are always people sitting out in the lounge doing homework, watching a movie, or just chatting. These places are essential to dorm life because it gives students a place to connect with others and experience community.

The new infrastructure is also important but for much less visible reasons. Even though new pipes and electrical systems can’t be seen by walking into a room or through a hallway, their effect can. Think of the time and money required for aging pipes, electrical and heating and air conditioning systems in a standard house; then think of those same issues in a college dorm.

This project might not be the most glamorous thing we could imagine, but that doesn’t make it any less important to the students who call Erb Hall home.